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The Tontitown Grape Festival is back for its 123rd year. Locals say when a large number of Italians came to Arkansas they moved to Sunnyside, but since it wasn’t conducive to growing grapes, some re-located to Tontitown. And they have been holding their festival there ever since. “This is our heritage, you know. We’re doing these things because our...

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Join us in congratulating Deacon Chris Dorer, who was ordained to the Diaconate for the Diocese of Little Rock by Bishop Anthony Taylor on Saturday. Chris, his wife Samantha and daughter Allison have faithfully served Little Italy for over 40 years. Today, we celebrate the commitment of this servant leader as Deacon Chris continues to serve St. Fra...

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As our grand tour of Italian wine nears its final lap, it's time for a stop in one of the country's most exciting wine regions: the volcanic island of Sicily. The largest island in the Mediterranean, its wine history dates back more than 6,000 years and survived the island's conquest by the Greeks, Phoenicians, Arabs and Italians. Despite being sur...

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The third annual Arkansas Italian Food and Wine Festival presented by Relyance Bank is scheduled for April 29 through May 1 at the Penick Boys & Girls Club in Little Rock. The event will feature three days of Italian food, culture, wine, as well as arts and crafts, demonstrations, a kids’ zone and musical acts.  Some of Arkansas’ best Italian food...

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John and Mary Olive Stephens have announced plans to open an Italian restaurant called George's at the former Cafe Prego location in Little Rock. The restaurant, named as a tribute to some of the couple's favorite restaurants abroad, is set to open in the Heights neighborhood in late 2022. The menu will feature "fresh, homemade Italian classics wit...

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The U of A Rome Center has begun hosting students from the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing. A cohort of 13 nursing students spent the Fall 2021 semester in the program, adding to the growing number of academic disciplines that the Rome Center offers for U of A students. The nursing students had the rare opportunity to participate in clinicals and le...

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I've scouted out NWA's newest Italian restaurant, Isabellas Italian in Fayetteville, that opened last week. Background: This upscale, dinner-only restaurant is the latest project by Todd and Nickki Golden, who own Mermaids and TJ's Sandwich Shop in Fayetteville.  - In fact, Isabellas is in the former home of TJ's Sandwich Shop, before it moved acro...

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Wednesday, Jan. 19 from 6 - 7 p.m. in the Otteneheimer Theater, Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E 3rd Street, Little Rock, AR. They came looking for the promised land. They found a nightmare. And they built it into a new life. This is the story of the Italians of Sunnyside. Lured from Italy to buy parts of Sunnyside Plantation, instead they were litt...

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Pasta. I mean, what’s not to love? And at Eat’Italian, the restaurant located in the heart of Greenbrier that’s been around for less than a year, pasta is all over the menu. As it should be. Word on the street is that the food at Eat’Italian is quite good, so I made my way up to the town 45 minutes north of Little Rock for a pasta-filled lunch. Fir...

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It is with heavy hearts that the Tontitown Historical Museum (THM) Board shares the passing of our co-founder Charlotte Piazza. We truly have Charlotte and her husband, Henry Piazza, to thank for having a museum at all. Charlotte was born and spent her early years in Kansas. She and Henry visited many small-town museums as they traveled through her...

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